It was exciting to see Ohio State upset Clemson in the semifinals, but they could not do that against Alabama. At least the college football championship was not another Alabama-Clemson matchup, right?

ESPN’s current top 25 lists Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia and Ohio State as their top 5. I feel like that is similar for the past five years or so.

I was impressed with Oklahoma’s finish by beating No. 7 Florida by 55 to 20. However, the team I believe will shine is Indiana. They pushed Ohio State to the edge in 2020, and that was an away game. I believe that they could have a big impact in Big Ten and College Playoff next year. If Big Ten conference did not cancel earlier games, Indiana may have been a possible playoff team with only loss coming against Ohio State at away game.

Another team that I see a big improvement is Wisconsin. Not to be biased, but their quarterback Graham Mertz showed us a promising skill in the first game against Illinois. The next few games were not as impressive, but this is his first year. Wisconsin’s weakness has been passing rather than rushing, so if Wisconsin can have a strong passing game going on with rushing, they could be favorite to win a Big Ten West division again.

The last team that can make some noise is Cincinnati. Yes, they lost to Georgia, 24-21, but we all know how great Georgia is. The fact that it took a last minute 53-yard field goal to win the game shows that Cincinnati is in the same league as Georgia, a team that is always considered as top four. If Cincinnati has early games with Power 5 teams and wins, the playoff committee won’t be able to overlook their resume.

Other few teams that can make interesting cases are Penn State, Louisiana State University, and Texas. I am sure that they will leave their forgettable 2020 season behind and be recognized at the national level as before.